Thanks for your ongoing prayers and faithfulness! He is so faithful to us, and He makes it possible for us to be faithful to Him! God is GREAT!

"Lord of the harvest, please send out workers"

A good friend of mine, Rob Lederman, has interacted with me over a period of time regarding his prayer journey. He's asked a number of times, "Why does it seem so hard to pray?" And, "Why is it that people don't seem to pray?"

So, what's Rob doing? He's tracking his prayer life! One of Rob's observations is that people don't seem to want to bother God with the "little" stuff. Another observation was that people, when seeing a clear answer to prayer, can sometimes dismiss it, or simply explain it away. Neither of these attitudes/actions encourages a life of dependence on prayer!

Here are a few of Rob's recent notes on answered prayer...

I was out recently biking when the chain came off, not only off but jammed right in tight to the front sprocket. I was facing a long hot walk back and decided to give it one shot, almost as an afterthought I prayed and viola it popped right out!!!

As an English teacher of Adults it can be tricky at times to get a good structure going in class - every company demands grammar - every student hates grammar. Recently I had some negative feedback, so took it to prayer, made some changes, surveyed the students - all is good now.

Each time I go shopping I pray 3 things - one, that I won't miss anything on the list (I struggle with "ADD"), two when I go shopping I won't forget anything and have to make a trip back, and three that God will stretch our money further so that we can give more to the kingdom. I’ve been tracking our shopping budget for a number of years and there has been a huge improvement since I started praying.

Thanks Rob, for letting me share these with others!

How about in other situations???

In 2005 the World Team group of workers in Spain drafted a new Vision Document. One of the strategic objectives focused on the need for additional people to bolster our efforts to establish new reproducing communities in Spain.

As we planned, we prayed, "Lord of the harvest, please send out workers" Would God answer our prayer?

Well, in the Spring of 2005, the World Team group consisted of 11 cross-cultural workers. Through the process of the years, God brought to our field - one couple from the USA (since transitioned back), 2 single women (one transitioned back, one is raising her support to join us long-term), one Spanish couple (serving in partnership with us), 2 couples from the USA (serving in partnership with us), one couple already serving in Spain that now partners with us. Currently there are 2 couples (one in Germany and one in the USA) raising their funding to join the team. There is another couple considering partnering with us. And one German couple plans to join one of our current ministry partners for a one year term.

Did God answer prayer? You bet He did!

In fact, God went BEYOND what we had thought about when we prayed... He raised up one couple (Marcelino y Eliana) from the Cáceres church to head out into cross-cultural ministry - they are now in preparation in Michigan, with an eye on serving as pilot & mechanic for Wycliffe. (see last photo)

God does answer prayer!

Executive BriefWhat Happened?Jacob to Manitoba – this is actually happening right now. I have enjoyed several great conversations, and hope to enjoy more! Please pray for “divine encounters” as I seek to meet with people interested in internships, or mid to long-term cross cultural ministry opportunities.

What’s Happening?Jacob speaking at Winkler CMC churches (both the Zion Mennonite – in Low German, YIKES!!! and at the CFC) Sunday, October 16
Karen to have an endoscopy (Thursday) to confirm suspicions of the presence of the H-Pylori bacteria… supposedly the culprit for her recent medical issues

Thanks for your prayers!
Jacob

P.S. I am praying – “Lord of the Harvest, please send out more workers.” Are there any potential cross-cultural workers you know of that I should be in touch with?